Bob Michel and His Presidents

Dwight D. Eisenhower

As a member of the House of Representatives, Robert H. Michel served with nine presidents, from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Bill Clinton. In what he called his "Presidential Scrapbooks," Michel kept selected photographs and correspondence with each of the nine.

Michel's contact with Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson was limited and perfunctory. In the case of Kennedy, for example, no unique documents appear in the scrapbooks. The selection below
reproduces what does exist for Eisenhower.

In the future we will add “Presidential Scrapbooks” selections for Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George Bush.

As a member of the House of Representatives, Robert H. Michel (RHM) [link to his bio on our site] served with nine presidents, from Dwight Eisenhower to Bill Clinton. In what he called his “Presidential Scrapbooks,” RHM kept selected photographs and correspondence with each of the nine.

RHM’s relationship with Richard Nixon (RN) arguably spanned the longest period of any of the presidents. For example, RHM served as administrative assistant to Harold Velde (R-IL) from 1949 to 1956, overlapping briefly with RN’s last two years in the House—RN resigned his House seat in 1950 to run for the Senate. Although there are no historical records from that period in RHM’s collection, it is likely the two met before RN’s election to the Senate inasmuch as both he and Velde served on the House Un-American Activities Committee.

The RN series in the Presidential Scrapbooks begins in 1956, as RHM campaigned for the House seat vacated by Velde.

(Click on images to enlarge, click to return to original size)

1949 November 12

Michel was prompted to write to Eisenhower as rumors swirled that Republicans would recruit Ike to run as the party’s candidate for president in 1952. The third paragraph reflects the geographical split between the eastern and Midwestern blocs of the party.

This is the first letter to a president preserved in Michel’s papers.

1949 November 16

Eisenhower replied to Michel, reassuring him that “the roots of my family and my life are buried too deep in the West for me to ever think of myself as anything but a mid-Westerner.”

1956

Bob Michel ran for his first election to the House of Representatives in 1956—the same year that Eisenhower ran for his second term. After traveling to Peoria (Michel’s hometown), Ike made the case for electing the same party to the White House and to Congress.

1956 November 10

Both Michel and Eisenhower won their campaigns in 1956.

1957 June 21

This photograph was taken at the White House on June 21, 1957, following a breakfast meeting with Republican members of Congress. Bob Michel, smiling, is third from the left in the third row.

1959 December 7

President Eisenhower sent his endorsement of Bob Michel, who would run for reelection in 1960, to a fundraising banquet for Michel in December 1959: “As a soldier who fought and sacrificed for the highest traditions of American democracy, Congressman Michel brings a courageous spirit to the nation’s Capitol. His legislative experience, his loyalty to constituents and to country, make him a splendid asset to the government.”

1960 May 12

Michel appeared with the president on May 12, 1960, following a breakfast for Republican House members.

1963 June 12

Michel and the former president.

1964 May 18

In this three-page letter, former president Eisenhower explains in detail his assessment of “the confused and unsatisfactory situation in Vietnam.”

Page 2: “Today, as I see it, two things are necessary: one, if we are to save the remnant of Southeast Asia, we must provide the kind of strength that will prevent a complete Communist take-over and at the same time must do more to acquaint all citizens of the region with the probity and decency of our intentions and the assurance that we have the capacity, with the populations’ cooperation, to win.”

Page 3: “But one thing I feel sure: to believe that the free world is going to protect its rights in the Southeast Pacific based on a so-called neutralized Vietnam is unwise.”

Bob Michel and His Presidents

Gerald R. Ford

As a member of the House of Representatives, Robert H. Michel (RHM) served with nine presidents, from Dwight Eisenhower to Bill Clinton. In what he called his “Presidential Scrapbooks,” RHM kept selected photographs and correspondence with each of the nine.

RHM and Gerald R. Ford (GRF) served together in the House of Representatives for nearly two decades. Both hailed from Midwestern states. Both rose in the House Republican leadership ranks. Both capped their House careers as the Minority Leader, although RHM preferred to be called “Republican Leader.”

Photographs of the two together, and correspondence between them, exist throughout the Michel collection, but these selections come from the Presidential Scrapbooks.

RHM = Robert H. Michel

GRF - Gerald R. Ford

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No Date

RHM with George H.W. Bush, GRF, and Betty Ford.

February 9, 1965

GRF complimented RHM for his work on H.J. Res. 234, making supplemental appropriations for Department of Agriculture. RHM served on the House Appropriations Committee and the Agriculture Subcommittee.

March 1, 1965

The Michel collection does not contain the February 26 letter referred to by GRF.

March 1, 1965

RHM and GRF belonged to the Chowder and Marching Club (“the C and M”). Like other informal groups in the House, C&M served as a conduit for legislative intelligence, networking, and mentorship.

March 2, 1967

Birthday greetings from the Minority Leader.

November 26, 1973

Self-explanatory. No caption needed.

December 7, 1973

GRF was confirmed as Vice President following the resignation of Spiro Agnew. The handwritten post script reads: “You’ve done a fine job & I’ll be helping.”

September 1974

RHM met with the president in the Oval Office.

November 8, 1974

This is the first document in the Presidential Scrapbook series to date from the Ford presidency. GRF typically congratulated Republican members upon their election or reelection to the House.

May 14, 1975

RHM supported the White House’s veto of the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act.

May 20, 1975

RHM served as Republican Whip, 1975-1981.

May 21, 1975

On May 12, the Khmer Rouge, in control of the Cambodian government, seized the merchant ship SS Mayaguez in what proved to be the last official battle of the Vietnam War. GRF ordered Marines to board and retake the ship on May 15.

May 23, 1975

GRF thanked RHM for his support of the president’s vetoes. GRF vetoed 66 bills during his administration, 12 of which were overridden.

July 7, 1975

GRF will run for the Republican presidential nomination—the announcement to come the next day.

July 10, 1975

Presentation of a bas-relief carving of Abraham Lincoln.

July 25, 1975

RHM supported the president’s effort to lift partially the arms embargo on Turkey. In February 1975, Congress imposed an arms embargo on Turkey on the grounds that United States-supplied military equipment had been used illegally during the Cyprus operation. President Gerald Ford urged Congress to reconsider the arms embargo, citing the damage it would do to vital United States interests in the eastern Mediterranean.

October 6, 1975

The Presidential Scrapbooks contain many letters from GRF thanking RHM for his support, often in sustaining vetoes.

December 9, 1975

GRF took the controversial action to authorize federal loans to bail out New York City, which was on the verge of bankruptcy.

January 30, 1976

GRF thanked RHM for yet another vote to sustain the president’s veto—this of the Labor-HEW Appropriations bill.

February 21, 1976

The lengthiest letter from GRF in the Presidential Scrapbooks, the president laid out the assumptions behind his economic policy.

April 26, 1976

RHM pledged his support for GRF as the party’s presidential nominee. Notice that this letter was not composed on official White House letterhead.

Although GRF lost his bid for the White House, he congratulated RHM upon his reelection to the House of Representatives.

November 19, 1976

As GRF prepared to leave office, he thanked RHM and hinted at a future golf match. The Michel collection does not contain the November 15 letter.

December 8, 1976

RHM accompanied the president at an unspecified event.

January 6, 1977

RHM served as Republican Whip, 1975-1981.

January 7, 1977

GRF with RHM and First Lady Betty Ford.

May 2, 1977

RHM and GRF belonged to the Chowder and Marching Club. Like other informal groups in the House, C&M served as a conduit for legislative intelligence, networking, and mentorship. C&M members retained their affiliation after leaving office.

October 29, 1982

GRF and RHM at The Dirksen Congressional Center, Pekin IL.

December 5, 1989

GRF reflected on the experience he shared with RHM as “Republican House Leader.”

February 26, 1993

Happy Birthday greetings from the former president.

June 11, 1993

In his distinctive hand, GRF expressed his appreciation for a recent celebration.

September 28, 1996

The last letter in the Presidential Scrapbooks related to Gerald R. Ford.

Bob Michel and His Presidents

Richard Nixon

As a member of the House of Representatives, Bob Michel served with nine presidents from Dwight Eisenhower to Bill Clinton. In what he called his "Presidential Scrapbooks," Michel kept selected photographs and correspondence from each. His relationship with Richard Nixon arguably spanned the longest period. The selection posted here begins in 1956 and concludes the year Nixon died, 1994.

As a member of the House of Representatives, Robert H. Michel (RHM) [link to his bio on our site] served with nine presidents, from Dwight Eisenhower to Bill Clinton. In what he called his “Presidential Scrapbooks,” RHM kept selected photographs and correspondence with each of the nine.

RHM’s relationship with Richard Nixon (RN) arguably spanned the longest period of any of the presidents. For example, RHM served as administrative assistant to Harold Velde (R-IL) from 1949 to 1956, overlapping briefly with RN’s last two years in the House—RN resigned his House seat in 1950 to run for the Senate. Although there are no historical records from that period in RHM’s collection, it is likely the two met before RN’s election to the Senate inasmuch as both he and Velde served on the House Un-American Activities Committee.

The RN series in the Presidential Scrapbooks begins in 1956, as RHM campaigned for the House seat vacated by Velde.

(Click on images to enlarge, click to return to original size)

1956

A staple of RHM’s first campaign for a House seat in 1956 were photographs featuring prominent Republicans supporting him. RHM selected this photograph with Vice President RN for his scrapbook. Tellingly, the Vice President mis-spelled RHM’s name in the inscription: “To Bob Mitchell with every good wish for victory in ’56 from Richard Nixon.”

1959 December 3

In December 1959, Peoria Republicans hosted a banquet to raise funds for RHM’s 1960 re-election campaign. Although he could not attend in person, Vice President RN sent a telegram which read in part, “The tribute you are paying him is a most fitting recognition of the unselfish and devoted service he has given his community, his district and the nation over the years.”

1960 May 28

As part of his presidential campaign, RN stopped in Peoria on May 28, 1960, to boost RHM’s re-election bid. His appearance drew a horde of reporters.

1960 July

The Republicans held their national convention in RHM’s home state in late July 1960. This photograph was taken in Chicago between July 25 and July 28.

1961 January 16

John Kennedy defeated RN in the 1960 presidential campaign. RHM won his race, however. As RN left office in January 1961, he penned this letter to RHM and enclosed a souvenir ash tray with the vice presidential seal.

1962 November 16

RN resumed his correspondence with RHM nearly two years later by congratulating the Congressman on his re-election to the House.

1964 February 24

The Creve Coeur Club in Peoria hosts a Washington Day Banquet every year. In 1964, RHM helped secure RN as the featured speaker and introduced him. In this letter, in which RN mis-spells RHM’s name again, the former vice president urges RHM to use his “very solid political base” in central Illinois “as a launching platform for higher office.” RN, recognizing his dubious place in American politics, offered to “speak for you or against you—whichever will help you the most!”

1964 March 5

RHM and RN shared a membership in the Chowder and Marching Society, a group of Republicans formed in 1949 by 15 fractious young Republicans of the House to oppose monthly bonuses for war veterans, which they considered too costly. Chowder and Marching welded exuberant friendships and accidentally founded a power matrix that helped produce three presidents and shape an American half-century.

1968 January 16

RN launched his formal campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in January 1968. One of the first to support him was RHM. RN thanked him for “sticking your neck out” by signing a letter in the former vice president’s behalf

1968 July 18

As the Republican National Convention approached, RN attended a meeting of the Republican Conference in the House on July 18 to solidify his support among House Republicans. RHM, a delegate to the August convention in Miami Beach, backed RN who won the nomination handily.

1968 September 26

During his presidential campaign, RN visited in Peoria. Here, RHM greets him at the airport.

1968 October 25

In the closing weeks of the 1968 campaign, RHM sent a long telegram to RN urging him to stir up Republicans to get them to the polls. He suggested that RN emphasize “a key issue a day” and hinted that the media had ignored the candidate’s statements with the result that people did not know where RN stood on the issues. He chided RN for not campaigning at full tilt: “That does not inspire the precinct workers to give it their all in a final surge.”

1968 October 30

RN responded to RHM’s plea three days later and promised that “we are doing everything possible to see that our forthright stand on the issues reaches the people.”

1968 November 4

On the eve of the presidential election, RN wished RHM “good luck” in his re-election campaign.

1968 December 5

Both RN and RHM won their campaigns. In congratulating RHM, RN wrote that, “I am confident that, once we get to Washington, we shall be able to set up one of the most productive and efficient Executive-Congressional teams our nation has ever known, with the result that all of us want: good government – responsible government – for our country.”

1969 November 5

On the first anniversary of his election to the White House, RN thanked RHM for the Republican Leader’s support.

1969 November 10

The Presidential Scrapbooks contain scores of letters from presidents on issues of the day. The November 10, 1969, letter from RN about the Vietnam War is one example.

1970 July 22

RHM met with RN in the Oval Office on July 22, 1970. His scrapbook contains several photographs from that meeting. There is no information in the RHM Collection about the subject of the meeting.

1970 August 5

President RN supported RHM’s bid for re-election to the House in 1970.

1970 October 27

The party of the incumbent president usually loses seats in the House in the first mid-term election. Recognizing the stakes, RN urged RHM “to make an extra effort in these last few days” of the 1970 mid-terms. The president also listed the issues important to his administration.

1970 November 5

RN congratulated RHM on his re-election, his seventh re-election win.

1971 March 1

In remarks on the House floor on February 22, RHM defended RN against charges the president had not told the truth about the war in Vietnam: “These are very serious charges. This has been an open administration. Our President has announced his overall aims, and he has kept his word. . . . Questioning policy is one thing, but calling our President a prevaricator is gutter politics, unworthy and I am sure unacceptable to the American public.” In this letter, RN thanks RHM.

1971 August 5

RHM and RN meeting in the Oval Office.

1972 February 14

As this letter indicates, RHM continued to support the Nixon administration’s approach to ending the war in Vietnam. A copy of the January 26 letter the president referred to does not exist in the RHM Collection.

1972 May 11

On May 9, 1972, RHM spoke in support of the administration’s efforts to end the war in Vietnam: “It ill behooves the opposition party, who supported a massive buildup in Vietnam, to castigate our President for taking measures to end our involvement.” RN expressed his appreciation two days later.

1972 September 6

RN won his party’s nomination for a second term in 1972. He appreciated RHM’s support as a delegate to the Republican National Convention. In September 1972 as this letter was written, the Watergate break-in on June 17 had not yet escalated into the political scandal it eventually would.

1972 October 16

“America needs your leadership in the next Congress,” RN wrote to RHM in the closing weeks of the 1972 election. The letter was addressed to RHM at his home on North Glenwood in Peoria, Il.

1972 November 16

RHM won another term in the House in 1972, and RN won a second term in the White House.

1973 January 24

On January 27, 1973, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger signed a peace agreement to end the war in Vietnam. Three days earlier, RN thanked RHM for supporting the administration. “I know how great the pressures have been. I know the sort of attacks to which you have been subjected, as a result of following your conscience,” he wrote. “But I am also confident that history will prove you to have been right, and that in the years to come you can look back with pride on a stern test nobly met.”

1973 March 22

RHM with Bill Brock, George H.W. Bush, RN, and an unidentified man in the Oval Office.

For months, the Nixon Administration had dealt with the Watergate crisis. In January 1974, RN refused to surrender tapes and documents subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee. Most House Republicans, including RHM, rallied to the president and urged him not to resign his office. RN promised RHM on February 20 that he would “remain on the job and perform my duties in the best fashion possible.”

1974 August 8

On August 8, 1974, in a nationally televised address, RN announced his resignation effective at noon the next day. Before his appearance, he met with a bipartisan group of his congressional friends in the Cabinet Room of the White House. RHM hurriedly made notes during the session. His transcription follows in the next segment.

1974 August 8

Entitled “A Roomful of Tearful Men,” this is a transcript of RHM’s notes of RN’s meeting with congressional friends the evening of August 8, 1974.

1978 May 4

For the next three-and-a-half years, RHM had no contact with the former president. In an effort to rekindle the relationship, however, RHM wrote a lengthy letter to RN on May 4, 1978, in which he stated, “I have felt ever since our last get-together in the Cabinet Room the evening before you announced your resignation that I owed you something more than mere silence. I apologize for letting it go on this long.”

1978 May 8

RN responded almost immediately with a hand-written note.

1978 May 15

And RHM penned his own hand-written reply.

1981 August 24

RN congratulated RHM for holding House Republicans together in support of President Ronald Reagan’s budget and tax policies. RHM had been elected House Republican Leader in December 1980.

1981 September 9

After watching RHM’s appearance on the MacNeil-Lehrer television program, RN complimented him as “a sound, intelligent, & articulate leader.”

1982 November 3

RHM narrowly—very narrowly—won re-election to the House in 1982, but he did survive the closest election of his lengthy career. As he told his friend, RN was “enormously relieved when you came through despite the fact that you were targeted by our opponents and had unusually high unemployment in your district.”

1983 July 20

RHM read each of RN’s books almost as soon as they were published. In this letter, he acknowledged the former president’s gift of Leaders and expressed some pessimism about the fortunes of the House Republicans in the wake of the 1980 redistricting. NOTE: C & M refers to the Chowder and Marching Society.

1983 July 29

After watching RHM’s appearance on the MacNeil-Lehrer television program, RN complimented him as “a sound, intelligent, & articulate leader.”

1986 December 9

In this letter to the former president, RHM talked about “this Iran Arms flap” and said that “those of us in the Leadership have had some very frank and no-holds-barred discussions with the President on how to deal with the problem.”

1986 December 22

In his reply, RN admitted that “I didn’t have new ideas on the Iran-Contra issue.” Ironically, given RN’s experience during Watergate, he wrote, “My only general observation is to get all the facts out fast so that we don’t lose two years on the only foreign policy issue which really matters now—Soviet American relations.”

1990 January 26

In his post-presidency, RN occasionally wrote position papers on the issues of the day, some of which he shared with congressional leaders. The accompanying illustration deals with President George H.W. Bush’s veto of “the Chinese students bill,” and House Republicans’ vote to sustain the veto in January 1990.

1990 March 8

On March 8, 1990, the Congressional Institute and House Republicans invited RN to the Capitol to hear his views on the international scene. As part of the event, RN met with RHM in the Republican Leader’s office. This was the most photographed event of the RHM-RN relationship.

1991 January 13

After a two-day debate, the Senate and the House on January 12, 1991, authorized President George H.W. Bush to use force to expel Iraq from Kuwait. A day later, RN congratulated RHM “on your outstanding leadership in getting all but three Republicans to support the President on the Gulf vote.”

1991 April 24

The last photograph of RHM and RN in the Presidential Scrapbook series depicts them and Howard H. Baker, Jr. on April 24, 1991, at a meeting of the Chowder and Marching Society.

1992 January 23

In this letter to the former president thanking him for a copy of Seize the Moment, RHM recalled his interview with Mikhail Gorbachev only six weeks after the Russian had taken office as President of the Soviet Union.

1994 January 27

On January 26, 1994, Senator Bob Dole hosted a private lunch for RN to mark the 25th anniversary of his administration. RHM introduced RN who then reflected on his years in the White House. RN thanked RHM in a letter the next day and included this compliment: “You had the rare ability to fight the hard fight for a cause without losing the respect of your opponents. You always remembered that those who are your enemies today may be your friends tomorrow. Above all, by your conduct, you made other Republicans proud that you were their leader.”

RHM had announced his intention to retire from the House following the end of the congressional session in 1994.

1994 April 27

On April 22, 1994, RN died after suffering a stroke four days earlier. His public funeral followed five days later at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in his hometown of Yorba Linda, California. In keeping with his personal wishes, RN's funeral was not a full state funeral, though his body did lie in repose in the Nixon Library lobby prior to the funeral services. RHM attended the services.

The last photograph in the Presidential Scrapbook (Nixon) Series shows RHM in the Capitol Rotunda next to a wreath presented in the memory of the late president.

The Dirksen Congressional Center is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization in Pekin, Illinois, that seeks to improve civic engagement by promoting a better understanding of Congress and its leaders through archival, research, and educational programs. The Center maintains its quality and independence through the gift support of individuals, corporations, and foundations who believe in its educational mission. The Center is named for Everett McKinley Dirksen (1896-1969). Dirksen served in the U.S. House from 1933-1948, the U.S. Senate from 1951-69, and as Minority Leader of the Senate from 1959 until 1969.